We report on a survey of the brightest portions of the Orion Nebula made with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 of the Hubble Space Telescope. Fifteen paintings were made, each employing interference filters isolating the principal emission lines of HI, [NII], and [OIII] and another isolating an interval similar to the V bandpass. A careful survey of compact objects of stellar and nearly stellar appearance was made and astrometric solutions for individual fields were used to determine positions accurate to about 0.1". 344 stars were measured, down to about V=22. In addition to structures in several of the previously known Herbig-Haro objects, 145 compact sources that can be classified as proplyds were found. Proplyds are young stars surrounded by circumstellar material which is rendered visible by being in or near an HII region. In the central region, where detection of proplyds is easiest, almost all of the low-mass pre-main-sequence stars have obvious circumstellar material. The fraction falls as one views areas away from the dominant photoionizing star {theta}^1^C Ori. Six new dark disk proplyds are found, bringing the total to seven. These are objects showing only in silhouette against the bright background of the HII region. Most of these are elliptical in form, indicating that they are circumstellar disks. In addition to these compact sources, the new images allow detection of numerous large structures previously unreported from ground-based observations. These include shells and shocks apparently related to Herbig-Haro objects and high velocity outflows from young stellar objects.
As part of our effort to determine what affects the star formation process by looking at the products of that process, we have obtained broadband Hubble Space Telescope images of the large OB association NGC 206 in the nearby spiral galaxy M31. Our images cover approximately the southern half of the association. We have detected stars down to an F555W magnitude of 25.5 and measure stars on the main sequence in NGC 206 to an M_F555W,0_ of -1 or a mass of ~6M_{sun}_. From a comparison with isochrones, ages up to about 8Myr are plausible, and we adopt an age of 6Myr. For stellar masses 6-15M_{sun}_, we determine an initial mass function slope of -1.4+/-0.5. This is close to the value for a Salpeter mass function, although the uncertainty is large. The uncertainty in the slope represents disagreement among the individual mass bins. In terms of intermediate-mass stars (6-15M_{sun}_) the NGC 206 star formation event appears to be typical of star formation processes in other nearby galaxies, and it is part of a growing number of studies ,that are finding similarities in the products of the star formation processes in a wide variety of star formation events and galactic environments. Nevertheless, the density of stars formed in NGC 206 is much lower than that in giant H II regions such as NGC 604 in M33 or 30 Doradus in the LMC and in typical OB associations.
(Partial): We examine the clustering properties of low-redshift Ly{alpha} and heavy-element QSO absorption line systems seen in the spectra of 13 QSOs at the Galactic poles. This is the densest sample of ~1 degree separated QSOs observed spectroscopically with the Hubble Space Telescope to date. At the median redshift of the Ly{alpha} sample (z{=~}0.7), the QSO lines of sight are separated on transverse scales from about 15 to 200h^-1^Mpc (q_0_=0.5, H=100h.km/s/Mpc), allowing the three-dimensional clustering of the absorbers to be examined on those scales. The Galactic poles are also regions where relatively deep and wide-field galaxy redshift surveys have taken place, so the distributions of galaxies and Ly{alpha} systems can be compared within the same volume of space. There are 545 total absorption lines detected in the complete sample from 13 QSOs. We identify 307 Ly{alpha} systems, of which 18 contain heavy-element lines. We confirm the relatively slow redshift number density evolution for Ly systems at z{<=}1. There are also five likely C IV doublets in our sample, for which the Ly{alpha} line is not accessible.
We present a catalog of near-infrared photometry of young stars associated with the Ophiuchus molecular cloud based on observations made with the Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS3 camera at 1.1 and 1.6{mu}m. Our survey covers 0.02deg^2^ centered on the dense molecular cores in Lynds 1688. We detect 165 sources at 1.6{mu}m and 65 sources at 1.1{mu}m within our estimated completeness limits of 21.0 and 21.5mag, respectively.
We present very deep WFPC2 images and FOS spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) together with numerous supporting ground-based observations of the field of the quasar 3C 336 (z_em_=0.927). The observations are designed to investigate the nature of galaxies producing metal-line absorption systems in the spectrum of the QSO. Along a single line of sight, we find at least six metal-line absorption systems (of which three are newly discovered) ranging in redshift from 0.317 to 0.892. Through an extensive program of optical and IR imaging, QSO spectroscopy, and faint galaxy spectroscopy, we have identified five of the six metal-line absorption systems with luminous (L_K_>=0.1L^*^_K_) galaxies. These have morphologies ranging from very late-type spiral to S0, and they exhibit a wide range of inclination and position angles with respect to the QSO sight line. The only unidentified absorber, despite our intensive search, is a damped Lyman-{alpha} system at z_abs_=0.656. Analysis of the absorption spectrum suggests that the metal abundances ([Fe/H]=-1.2) in this system are similar to those in damped systems at z~2 and to the two other damped systems for which abundances have been determined at z<1. The absorption line system must either be associated with an underluminous, late-type spiral galaxy, which we find at a projected disk impact parameter of ~120h^-1^kpc, or with an as yet unseen, extremely faint galaxy (L<0.05L^*^_K_) near the QSO sight line that eludes detection despite our deep HST and high-resolution ground-based near-IR images. We have found no examples of intrinsically faint galaxies (L<0.1L^*^) at small impact parameters that might have been missed as absorber candidates in our previous ground-based imaging and spectroscopic programs on Mg II absorbing galaxies. We have, however, identified several intrinsically faint galaxies within ~50h^-1^kpc of the QSO sight line that do not produce detectable metal-line absorption. There are no bright galaxies (L>0.1L_K_) within 50h^-1^kpc that do not produce detectable metal lines (of Mg II {lambda}{lambda}2796, 2803 and/or C IV {lambda}{lambda}1548, 1550) in the QSO spectrum. All of these results generally support the inferences we have previously reached from a larger survey for absorption-selected galaxies at z<1. There are several other galaxies with redshifts near that of 3C 336, suggesting that the QSO is situated in an overdense region, perhaps a galaxy cluster. Previously published reports of a cluster around 3C 336 were largely misled by the presence of many foreground galaxies seen in projection near the QSO. It is possible that a reported measurement of weak shear gravitational lensing in this field may be produced by the QSO cluster itself, since there appear to be no other groups or clusters in the foreground. We find no evidence for a normal, bright QSO host galaxy, although there are several faint objects very close to the quasar and at similar redshift that might either be companions or part of a disorganized QSO host.
In this paper we present the discovery of 60 star clusters in 20 multiband Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFPC2 fields in M33. The fields sample a variety of environments, from outer regions to spiral arms and central regions, as well as a range of galactocentric distances. The HST spatial resolution allowed us to penetrate the crowded, spiral arm regions of M33 yielding the first unbiased, representative sample of star clusters for this galaxy. We discuss the separation of clusters from stellar sources, and from other extended sources such as star-forming regions, H II regions, and supernova remnants. For the clusters we present multiband images and discuss morphology, location, and integrated photometry. Measured cluster colors and magnitudes are presented. The cluster density in our sample as a function of galactocentric distance yields an estimate of 690 total clusters in M33.
We study the dense core of the globular cluster Messier 13 (NGC 6205) using pre-refurbishment Planetary Camera-I images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. Short exposures (60s) through the F555W and F785LP filters (similar to Johnson V and I, respectively) have been used to obtain V and I photometry of 2877 stars brighter than V~20 in a 1.25arcmin^2^ region of the cluster including its core and extending out to r~66arcsec (2.3pc) from its center. The sample is complete to V~=18.3 (the main sequence turnoff) and the 1{sigma} photometric error is about 0.1mag. We find 15 blue straggler star candidates and 10 other possible blue stragglers in this region of M13. Their specific frequency is in the range F_(BSS)=0.04-0.07, comparable to what is observed near the centers of other dense clusters. A comparison between M13's observed V band stellar luminosity function and a theoretical model (Bergbusch & Vandenberg, 1992ApJS...81..163B) for the luminosity function of an old, metal-poor cluster shows that the model predicts too few of the brightest red giants (V~12.5-15) by a factor of two relative to subgiants/turnoff stars (>6{sigma} effect). The radial distributions of red giants, blue stragglers, and subgiants are consistent with one another, and are well fit by a King profile of core radius r_(core)_=38+/-6arcsec (90% confidence limits) or 1.3pc. Stars in the blue horizontal branch of M13, however, appear to be centrally depleted relative to other stellar types. We combine data from three dense ``King model clusters,'' M13, M3, and 47 Tuc, and two post core collapse clusters, M30 and M15, and compare the distributions of various stellar types as a function of (r/r_(half light)_) and (r/r_(core)_). The horizontal branch stars in the combined sample appear to be centrally depleted relative to the giants (97% significance), this depletion is only a 1-2{sigma} effect in each of the clusters taken individually. The blue stragglers in the combined sample are centrally concentrated relative to the giants. (Copyright) 1997 American Astronomical Society.
In the first 3 years of operation the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) obtained slitless spectra of ~2500 fields in parallel to prime Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations as part of the STIS parallel survey (SPS). The archive contains ~300 fields at high Galactic latitude (|b|>30{deg}) with spectroscopic exposure times greater than 3000s. This sample contains 219 fields (excluding special regions and requiring a consistent grating angle) observed between 1997 June 6 and 2000 September 21, with a total survey area of ~160-arcmin^2^. At this depth, the SPS detects an average of one emission-line galaxy per three fields. We present the analysis of these data and the identification of 131 low- to intermediate-redshift galaxies detected by optical emission lines. The sample contains 78 objects with emission lines that we infer to be redshifted [O II] {lambda}3727 emission at 0.43<z<1.7. The comoving number density of these objects is comparable to that of H{alpha}-emitting galaxies in the NICMOS parallel observations. One quasar and three probable Seyfert galaxies are detected. Many of the emission-line objects show morphologies suggestive of mergers or interactions. The reduced data are available upon request from the authors.
We present our analysis of Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations in F555W (~V) and F814W (~I) of the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy. The resulting V vs V-I color-magnitude diagrams reach V~27.1mag. The reddening of Carina is estimated to be E(V-I)=0.08+/-0.02 mag. A new estimate of the distance modulus of Carina, (m-M)0=19.87+/-0.11mag, has been derived primarily from existing photometry in the literature. The apparent distance moduli in V and I were determined to be (m-M)V=20.05+/-0.11mag and (m-M)I=19.98+/-0.12mag, respectively. These determinations assumed that Carina has a metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.9+/-0.2dex. This space-based observation, when combined with previous ground-based observations, is consistent with (but does not necessarily prove) the following star formation scenario. The Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy formed its old stellar population in a short burst (<~3Gyr) at about the same time the Milky Way formed its globular clusters. The dominant burst of intermediate-age star formation then began in the central region of the galaxy where stars formed for several billion years before the process of star formation became efficient enough in the outer regions of the galaxy to allow for the formation of large numbers of stars. There has been negligible star formation during the last few billion years. This observation provides evidence that at least some dwarf galaxies can have complex global star formation histories with local variations of the rate of star formation as a function of time and position within the galaxy. (c) 1997 American Astronomical Society.
Photometry on the UVI system has been performed on the resolved stellar content of the blue compact dwarf galaxy UGC 6456 using Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. The resulting color-magnitude diagram (CMD) goes to about V=27.5 and reveals not only a young population of blue main-sequence stars and blue and red supergiants, but also an older evolved population of red giants and a fairly well represented asymptotic giant branch. The distance to the galaxy is estimated from the tip of the red giant branch to be 4.5Mpc, placing it about 1.5Mpc farther away than the major members of the M81 Group, with which it is usually associated. The youngest stars are generally associated with H ii regions shown on our Halpha image and are largely confined to the 745pc field of our PC images. A comparison of their distribution in the CMD with theoretical isochrones suggests ages from 4 to 10Myr. The population of older stars is found throughout all WFPC2 camera fields and seems to show an elliptical distribution with an aspect ratio of about 2.4 and an exponential falloff in surface density with distance from a center of symmetry that is not far from the centroid of the youngest stars. Theoretical modeling of the CMD at a metallicity of Z=0.001 suggests star formation in the age interval 1-2Gyr, a strong burst in the interval 600-800Myr, and a lower rate of star formation up to the present. The evidence is compatible with a scenario beginning with the formation of a population of low-metallicity stars, enriching a major residual of prestellar material that subsequently fueled an active episode of star formation. That burst of star formation must have been particularly spectacular and may be related to the activity we now see in the distant blue dwarf galaxies revealed in deep imaging.
